This clearly written, well-researched monograph analyzes the shop-flooractions, strikes, and general insurgency of German chemical workers during andafter World War One, proving, once again, that reports of labor history'sdemise are premature. Patton's work suggests that we still have much tolearn from an anatomy of militant working-class behavior. In the classic manner,Flammable Material surveys the overall economic and industrial contextof rebellion while also offering a detailed comparative study of conditions,organization, and activity in specific companies—in this case, the fourbiggest concerns, Bayer, Höchst, Leuna, and BASF. Simultaneously, the bookmoves beyond traditional labor history (at least of the dominant German variety)by adopting the perspective “from below” as opposed to from insidetrade unions and socialist parties. Moreover, Patton criticizes assumptions thatoften crop up even in the field of the new labor history. Indeed, his study wasmotivated by his dissatisfaction with explanations of the oft-noted volatilityof chemical workers from 1918 to 1921. He challenges, first, the notion thattheir actions were “wild” or spontaneous, showing that they weredriven by long-festering, well-articulated grievances and steered by shop-floorleaders and organizations. He disputes, second, the assumption that chemicalworkers were apolitical. To understand both the curve and content of workplacesolidarity and militancy, he argues, the historian must consider the impact ofpartisan politics on chemical workers, on the one hand, and their intenseconcern with the balance of power between employees and management, on theother.